The Avs make a move to acquire some grit

The Avalanche looking for a little grit to go with their finesse have made an offer to the Boston Bruins for forward Martin Lapointe. On saturday accoring to the Denver Post www.denverpost.com the Avanlache offered Martin Skoula and Alex Tanguay to the Bruins for Martin Lapointe and Kyle Mclaren. Has Lacroix tinkered to much with this latest possible trade or is this just the kick in the pants the Avs need to get their season going?

25 Responses to The Avs make a move to acquire some grit

Tanguay and Skoula for Lapointe and McLaren? If this trade goes through Lacroix can no longer be considered one of the top gms in the league. The Avs just won’t score goals anymore. Lapointe had some great years for the Wings, but I don’t ever see him breaking 20 goals again, let alone stay healthy to do it. McLaren will give the Avs a solid top 4, but he’s injury prone too. Don’t like this trade for the Avs.

I think the rumor is true, that the Avs are looking to get Martin Lapointe, but more so it’s O’Connell looking to dump Lapointe after making the mistake of signing him for $5.25M a season thinking he’d score 25 goals a season. Riiiiiiighhtttt….

As for the trade, i doubt Pierre is that dumb to offer Skoula for McLaren. I wouldn’t even offer Tanguay for Lapointe.

If the rumor is true, then it should have happened already. It’s a no-brainer for O’Connell, though he is not the smartest guy on this earth.

O’Connell said that the offers for McLarem have not made any sense, however, i don’t think what he is looking for has not made any sense to the teams that made the offers. He is overvalueing McLaren too much.

The Avs made the biggest mistake in trading Drury. Sure, Morris will help and he is good, but Drury was a key player for them and not to mention, Yelle is also a HUGE loss to the Avalanche.

I think Lapointe would help the Avs, but wouldn’t make them better at all if they trade Skoula.

Good deal by Pierre if he can pull it off. Mclaren and Lapointe add a LOT OF TOUGHNESS to the team that has no kick besides Scott Parker. And SP is no gem in the waiting neither. If this can get done Colorado may return to form they once had.

True Lapointe and McLaren add some toughness, but not enough to trade our best young d-man and a decent scorer for him, and McLaren just isn’t worth it, he is injury prone and he is a whiner. I think that Lacroix needs to get his head out of O’Connells ass and move on to a better deal, otherwise i am gonna start rooting for the Nuggets!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They can’t do it, noooooooooooooooooooo. McLaren can’t come here, he can’t. We don’t want his sorry ass. Lapointe either, screw him, we dont need anymore checking forwards are you kidding me? I’d rather trade tanguay for isbister, somebody who actually has a future ahead of them as oppose to the McLaren that sorry excuse for a hockey player. Last thing the avs need is somebody to take stupid penalties and leave the avs (with one of the worst power play units in the league) to penalty kill. McLaren sucks. As for Lapointe, I don’t know what good he’ll do us. Probably the same as McLaren. I think we’re making a mistake by trading Skoula, sure he’s gotta pick up on his defense, but remember this kid is only 23 years old, and as of now has a +/- of +9, which is second on the avs. He has a few more years till he reaches his prime, but I’d be willing to wait for it if I were the avs. His point totals have gradually increased each season he has played. Not to mention that he plays every game, Skoula shows up to play, McLaren on the other hand would most likely play one game and get injured for the rest of the season. Good god I hope this doesn’t happen.

The Avs could definitely use Lapointe, but I’m not so sure about McLaren. The Avs are pretty rough and tumble in the back already with Foote, Blake, Morris and DeVries. Why would they need McLaren?

As for the players the Avs give up… what’s the big deal. Tanguay has been in a slump ever since blowing his Olympic bid and Skoula hasn’t shown any improvement in two years. They may still become excellent players, but Lacroix would be justified in guessing that they are at the end of their development. Plus, Skoula is really only a #5 d-man for the Avs right now, since they acquired Morris and that he is being outplayed by Greg DeVries – the ultimate overachiever. Tanguay isn’t scoring anyway despite getting 18-19min/game. How is he going to affect the offense? Not too much. Forsberg, Sakic, Hejduk and Reinprecht will still be there and Vrbata would benefit with a few more minutes. Lapointe could play with Forsberg to form a formidable duo down low and probably would get 20 this year.

Boston gets to dump some salary and Skoula would give them better production from the back. They would roll the dice on Tanguay, who should be a 20-25goal, 50 point man even if he stops developing. The upside on both players is big and they ditch the McLaren headache. Looks pretty good for both teams except the salaries are uneven and the Avs could use McLaren, but don’t really need him.

Best young d-man? Morris is a much better player than Skoula. Skoula has shown little or no improvement over his first two seasons and now he is #5 on the depth chart. He needs minutes to get back on track and he won’t get them in Colorado.

The Denver Post (www.denverpost.com) article that announced this seems to be referring to the deal as if it’s basically done. Supposedly, the Bruins were contemplating the deal still as of late Saturday. I personally think the deal is just about done, which is why I made the trade already in my copy of NHL2003, since I’m quite obsessed with having perfect rosters and perfect lines. I really do think this deal is done and that the contracts and any sort of buyout is the only thing left to be discussed.

That being said, TheFourthPeriod.com has stated that the Lightning are shopping defenseman Pavel Kubina and left-winger Fredrik Modin. Since the Bruins are marketing Martin Lapointe and Kyle McLaren, I think a Modin-Kubina for Lapointe-McLaren trade might be quite interesting. Sans injuries, McLaren is the perfect big defenseman that the Lightning so strongly desire, and really the Lightning have very little grit on their team. Lapointe, even if he doesn’t score 20-25 goals per season anymore, would still be a positive addition to that club.

But, those are merely wishes. Like I said, I really think the Bruins-Avalanche deal is done.

Just on a side note, I read on the Eric Lindros thread that Lapointe might be put out to play left wing, even though he’s a natural right winger (right handed shot). What do you guys think about Lapointe maybe being moved to the LW position?

I’m not sure what to make of this trade. The ideal foward we could get I think is Shane Doan, and there is a possiblity of getting him even though the Poenix GM said everyone has asked for him and he has said no. Isbister could also be a good pickup, but the jury is still out on his development.

What the Avs really need is a power foward who can hopefully play on one of the top two lines, and stand in front of the net on the power play. Martin Lapointe would be able to fullfill the power play role, but might end up playing on the third line, which wouldn’t be horrible.

And for all of you who keep saying the Avs would be nuts to trade Skoula, well you don’t watch every game like I do. I, along with every other Avs fan, player, and mangement, have been waiting for him to prgress, and stop making horrible, game changing plays. Almost every time he gets the puck, something bad happens. He skates slower than molases before dishing out a horrible first pass which slows the fowards down considerably, and pass is never on the tape, it is usually an icing or a turnover. He gets beat to the puck in his own zone all the time, and loses one on one battles. He has also taken a shitload of bad penalties, which almost all of them have led to a goal for some reason. I for one am tired of his play, and see McLaren as an improvement no matter what his injury history is. Skoula will prabably develop into a good d-man, but even though Bob Hartley , and the Avs coaching staff are probably the best at developing young players, and having patience with them, Skoula seems like he won’t progress unless he receives some sort of shock to the system, which is probalby only going to happen after a trade.

The bottom line is the Avs not only need grit, they need size, and that is why Lapointe, as well as McLaren can come in handy. Now whether they are the best players to acuire is another story. Lapointe’s salary really worries me, because it will mean one of two things, which are both bad. Either we won’t be able to keep him, which would be another wasted trade, or we will have to give up another player who we probably shouldn’t. If this trade does go down, I’m hoping that the B’s would take a portion of Lapointe’s salary.

Now as an Avs fan as well. I must disagree with you, the new rules ahve hurt Skoula this year. But remember it’s a lot of change. He’s a +9 at the moment, but the penalties have killed us. Once the PK gets better this team will go on one hell of a streak, as that is the only thing holding them back. They’re scoring even strength goals left and right (look at all the +/- on our team, 3 players total in negative.) Tanguay in a year when scoring was down put up 48 with injuries going on. Remember Sakic put up just over 80 playing a full season. They struggled to score last year as did the league. Skoula is just a hair away from learning it, and as soon as he is gone he will turn into what we waited for. Tanguay is already there, you’ve watched this guy, I’d take him over Lapointe any freakin day. Besides we already have a role player waitin in the wings with Dean comin back. Why the hell do we need another?

I say this now…I give up hope on Pierre if he makes this deal. Lapointe has the worst contract and is consistently over rated and is simply a role player. There is no reason to make this deal. If we’re looking for defensive depth a guy like Mclaren won’t help to much, he’s injury prone. If I’m going to take 5 mil a year offer Skoula and Tanguay for Kovalev. At 4.6 he’s a freakin bargain.

Bob Hartley was Martin LaPointe’s coach in junior hockey in Quebec and he’s always like LaPointe, so the rumor is believable from that standpoint.

However, I don’t know why Boston would make this deal considering that the Bruins are close to the top of the NHL right now in points and goals scored. If Boston was struggling, I could see it. The AVs are having huge problems scoring. Trading Drury for Morris was sheer stupidity. Hey, if Skoula and Tanguay aren’t scoring for the Avs, why would the Bruins want them in exchange for a character player like LaPointe? This doesn’t make sense to me. Money is the only possible reason seeing as LaPointe makes $5.5 million per, but the Bruins just rid themselves of Guerin and his contract. I just can’t see this one at all.

I guess you have a point, i wasn’t really considering Morris as one of their younger guys, but I guess he is pretty young. I still think McLaren is a bad idea, even if Skoula isn’t producing right now, but who knows..

Actually the Avs are scoring around 1 gaol more per game this season than they were last season. The problem is their defense, which has not been up to par lately.

As a die hard Avs fan I dont know what to make of this “to be” deal. It would be nice to add McLaren just to have 5 d-men that can all play very well! LaPointe would also be a nice pick up, his salary would not be though! Tanguay was scoring at the begining of the season and Skoula is playing better!

What the avs need is a grinder to accompany Hinote and a scoring forward for the 2nd line. If they do this their chances will be much better and they should return to the form they used to be in!

The thing that I most dislike about the trade is that mclaren takes stupid penalties like none other, sure he’s a stay at home defenseman, but with hits like the one he put on zednik, it wont do the avs much good if he’s suspended for being a bryan marchment type player

For sure… Kovalev is so gritty… And what a heart, he’s a proven winner, just what the Avs need. He’s definitely available for Tanguay and Skoula, but you might want to throw in some old socks and some Patrick Roy autographed pucks for Mario while you are at it.

(I don’t think anybody would pick up Lapointe’s contract. If the Avs acquire him you can rest assured that the Bruins have to swallow some of it.)

Kovalev will be a RFA next off season. His salary may take a jump and that MAY make him avaliable. Other mentionable is Bonk (Center but that would work, and for 2 years and 6.7 instead of one at 5.2). Grit isn’t their games. But I would rather add more talent then a overblown salary of a player that will get us a 15-27 goal season and has had injury problems of late. This rumor sounds very much like a fraud that the Toronto Sun came out with that just got filtered to Boston Globe and Denver Post. Not a single place does it sight a source. Just that it’s happening. I mean come on, why in the hell would they add more salary? They already are underachieving at near 60 mil. Add another 5, even if Boston pays part of his salary this year it becomes outrageous.

I’m tired of hearing the radio stations saying this is somehow good, give on two good players for a injury prone over rated uneeded defensemen. And a 30 year old role player making twice what he is worth. This is the ideal trade for Boston and a horrible one for the Avs. Anyone else notice this? They get rid of two headaches for two prospects?

That’s fine you can disagree. But since Skoula doesn’t go up against the top lines on the other team, and since he is always in the box his plus minus is perfect example of how plus minus can be misleading.. I will admit, that the last game against Chicago, Skoula was playing great. Did you see how much better he was skating out there. It was like contrasting black and white.

We have a lot of skill on the top two lines, and if we give up someone like Tanguay or Vrbata, or Reinprect we may not get as much skill in return, but you need more than skill to win the Stanley Cup. It’s not only the PK that’s hurting us either. The PP is really strugling for some reason, and I’m pretty sure it’s because the goalies are always seeing the puck because no one is in front of the net. The PP does everything right but score. That’s why trading one of our average sized fowards, for a big power foward will help. Lapointe isn’t the best choice, mainly becasue of his salary, but we need to change something, because there isn’t anyone on the team who has an ounce of chemistry with Forsberg except for Sakic, and Hejduk, which is only recently because Hejduk never worked that well with Forsberg alone before. It’s not role players we need, we have plenty of those. We need big players who play with grit, and use their size.